Haanel’s chapter “Concentration and Desire” brings a lot together. In this world where our attention span is barely more that a 140 character Tweet it is easy to forget what true concentration is. If the subject is one in which I have an strong affinity then it is easy to become so engrossed as to be aware of nothing else.

I see unconscious desire as the key to achieving results. If one has an unconscious desire (our PPNs?) then concentration surely follows naturally? We know that the door to the subconscious is the conscious mind and all the exercises in Haanel et al are aimed at determining our purpose(s) in life and aligning our subconscious (our blueprint) accordingly. With our desires on automatic, concentration may require control (to avoid distraction) but not burdensome effort (to avoid falling asleep!).

As we know, the subconscious never sleeps so it is working all the time on our desires, reinforced by conscious concentration (our daily affirmations), so instances of intuitive awareness become more frequent. Intuition does not always make “sense” but it is working from the subconscious and feeding solutions into our conscious mind “out of the blue” so we will not always appreciate its import straight away. However, like everything else that makes up our mind and body, the “use it or lose it” principle applies – ignore it at your peril!

It’s taking me a little time to get my head around Haanel’s “Cycle of Seven”. Much of this chapter reiterates previous learning about wealth and the power of thought. In fact it is not (yet) clear to me why he opens the chapter with the “Cycle of Seven” which seems unrelated to the rest it.

The learning points for me come from the section on visualisation where he says that “the environment you desire will contain everything necessary”, reinforcing that success comes from focusing on the higher ideal – our big picture DMP – what we become. If we get the higher ideal right and we become the person we are meant to become, the minutiae will be there. The Law of Attraction will deliver sufficient exchange value to complete “the environment you desire”.

I did like the John Oxenham poem – “To every man there openeth a way” – one of the best messages yet.

My sits this week have found me pondering on Og’s Scroll 4 and the the matter of uniqueness. In particular I am struck by the “… constant irritation to my spirit to become better than I am …” and the realisation that everyone has such irritation, albeit stronger in some than in others.

I think I partly recognised this when, a while ago, I clarified the purpose behind my network marketing business. My DMP was not, as I initially thought, to grow my business (and income), but rather to help people who are facing change to identify what they want and create a game plan for achieving their goals. Should they choose to enter the (unknown) world of network marketing, my role is to coach and support them on their Hero’s Journey to a new life.

Many network marketing distributors, including me in the past, pitch the material lifestyle, the flashy wardrobe, the money in the bank, the fast cars and a great home. What they fail to realise is that beyond all this is a part of people that longs to make a difference as well. So, beyond simply identifying and coaching people towards their material goals, I have a responsibility to go deeper and educe the difference that they want to make. Creating that awareness will generate more powerful thoughts, emotions and actions than dangling material baubles in front of them.

In Week 13 webinar we are encouraged to reinforce what we learn by teaching, starting with Persistence. To facilitate this and to allow for future topics I have added a Lessons page to this blog. Sub-pages will be added for individual topics – as I persist! Inevitably these pages will forever be work in progress as I work from outline to presentation and as I come across new material and my understanding grows.

When I saw that Haanel’s Lesson 14 is entitled “Manifestation” I thought “this is it, after this chapter I’ll be on my way”. As I read (with concentration!) the import hit home. I have been “on my way” all my thinking life, I just haven’t known for the most part to where I have been on my way.

The significant learning points are:

Firstly, “all thought is creative” since the subconscious mind responds to all thought in proportion to the degree of feeling attached thereto and how much I dwell upon it.

Secondly, even though I may not have noticed the results of this process the Law of Attraction has nevertheless been working. My current circumstances are the cumulative result of my thoughts up to now. When I now examine my life closely I can connect the dots and that I don’t like some of the results is a hard lesson to take on board.

I made more notes than usual during Week 13 webinar and the first challenge now is trying to read them! I enjoyed listening to Guides of contrasting styles. Lydia particularly gave me food for thought. Firstly choices; to start and to finish something is one choice. So many people (including my old blueprint) start something with the thought “we’ll see how it goes”. There is no real intent to persist. No decision to finish. In effect no decision at all. Secondly; on Lydia’s last slide; don’t give up on your dreams and the people in them. This was reflected back in a sentence on the next slide “Become a Heroes in you own lives, with your purpose, for your tribe”. For tribe, read: the people you are going to impact.

Last week I mentioned that my PPN now make sense and though I didn’t expand on that at the time, it is because one of my PPNs is Legacy, the impact I want to have on the community and people that I, through my business, serve. The one-sentence DMP had put Legacy up front as the real purpose behind my business. (“Up front” and “behind” at the same time? Well, I’m sure you get the drift.)

I have yet no idea who all these people are exactly but I’m sure that with my new blueprint I’ll be sending out the vibes that will attract them and they will raise their hands. Reminds me of the mantra in the film Field of Dreams (Kevin Costner starred) – Build it (the new blueprint) and they will come (raise their hands).

The one-sentence DMP was a really useful exercise. To get the full picture I had to raid my Press Release for additional inspiration and the process of looking forward at what I set out to achieve (DMP) and projecting forward to look back at what I had achieved (Press Release) introduced a whole new perspective. My PPNs now make sense!

Then on the Sunday webinar I spent 50 minutes repeating the one-sentence DMP in front of a mirror. Now I didn’t burst into song and dance like some but I did experiment with the delivery. I imagined it as an introduction to my on-stage presentation when I get invited by the company to tell the world how it all started and how I did it. So my next task is to write my whole presentation and rehearse it as I do my Press Release.

Of course my one-sentence DMP is memorised (how could it not be after 50 minutes!) and I use it as one of my affirmations utilising the brain gym techniques when I am out walking. All the affirmations have a natural rhythm that synchronise easily with walking pace and if necessary can alternate starting on the left or right foot to vary the input. The whole town now thinks I am crazy with the advantage that I get a lot of pavement space to myself!

And finally, “The Guy in the Glass” makes a nice rap but that stays strictly in the bathroom mirror between me and “The Guy”. I don’t know who laughs a whom the most.